Tag Archive for: Short Track World Tour

Sean McAnuff (Co. Antrim) and Liam O’Brien (Co. Cavan) have rounded out the second of two ISU Short Track World Tour events in Montreal, Canada this weekend.

On the opening day of the competition, the Irish Wolfhounds took on the 500 and 1500 metre distances. In Heat 8 of the 500 metre preliminaries O’Brien was drawn in starting position three and maintained third place from the gun to the line in a time of 42.841. Next up was McAnuff in Heat 9 who found himself in what turned out to be the fastest winning time of the preliminaries. He came home in 42.791 for second place.

In Heat 5 of the 1500 metre heats O’Brien took the lead with seven laps to go and was in contention the whole way through until the final lap where he was pipped into third in a time of 2:24.167. Immediately after in Heat 6 McAnuff kept himself in touch with the lead until he got dropped with two laps to go. He finished in sixth place with a time of 2:24.467.

The Irish Wolfhounds were back for the 500 metre repechage heats at the end of Day One. McAnuff appeared in Heat 4 and was racing well until the penultimate lap when a skater in front of him crashed out almost taking McAnuff with him and causing him to lose speed. He still managed to come second in a time of 42.311 which was unfortunately not enough to take him any further. In Heat 9 O’Brien slotted into fourth on the opening lap and held that position all the way to the end with a time of 42.498.

The second day of this World Tour event focused on the 1000 metres. McAnuff raced in Heat 3 of the preliminaries and kept in contact with the leader from the start until the final lap before he had to settle for second place in a time of 1:27.613. In Heat 4 O’Brien began to make moves with two laps to go and just missed out on making the top two as he placed third with a time of 1:34.991.

Both Irish Wolfhounds were drawn in Heat 1 of the 1000 metre repechage heats. McAnuff and O’Brien kept things in close quarters at the start of the race before both found they did not have the pace to end up in the top spots. McAnuff was third in a time of 1:28.549 with O’Brien fourth in 1:29.596.

The final throw of the dice for Team Ireland was the 1500 metre repechage quarterfinals. McAnuff lined up in Heat 5 in what proved to be a thrilling race with two skaters crashing out midway. McAnuff dropped off on the penultimate lap and finished fourth with a time of 2:25.797. In Heat 8 O’Brien darted to the front with seven laps to go and was in pole position when contact with another skater bumped him off course slightly. He never recovered and wound up in fifth place in a time of 2:30.025.

The Irish Wolfhounds will next compete at third ISU Short Track World Tour event in Gdansk, Poland (20-23 November).

Sean McAnuff and Liam O’Brien duked it out with best skaters in the world as they got their campaign for Milano Cortina under way at the first ISU Short Track World Tour event of the season in Montreal, Canada.

The opening day saw qualification races in the 500 and 1500 metre distances. O’Brien lined up in Heat 2 of the 500 metre preliminaries and when the gun went off, he got jostled causing him to lose momentum. He was never in the hunt to advance after that and came home in fourth place with a time of 42.930. McAnuff appeared in Heat 7 and by contrast was in the mix throughout his race. After making a nice pass to move up from third to second on the penultimate lap, he did not quite have enough to claim an automatic spot in the next round. Unfortunately, his second-place time of 42.830 was not enough to progress.

O’Brien found himself drawn again in Heat 2 of the 1500 metre heats. Always in contention he bided his time and made his move just before the penultimate lap to move into second. He finished in second with a time of 2:17.324 which took him to the quarterfinals as the fastest non-automatic qualifier. McAnuff was back out on the ice in Heat 10. While he maintained contact throughout the race, a sudden injection of pace on the third last lap saw him drop back and cross the line in fifth place in 2:27.530 ending his participation in the day’s races. O’Brien returned in Heat 4 of the 1500 metre quarterfinals. In a hard-fought race, he just could not get into his groove and placed sixth albeit with a slightly swifter time of 2:17.170 than what he recorded in the previous round.

All that remained after a long day of racing were the 500 metre repechage heats. In Heat 3, McAnuff was fourth after the opening corner and was playing catch up throughout the race. He finished in third place with a time of 43.137. O’Brien rounded out his opening salvo of races in Heat 12. A few moments of contact on the opening lap sapped his speed from which it proved difficult to recover. He came fourth in a time of 45.949.

The second day of qualification consisted of just the 1000 metres. In Heat 3 of the preliminaries O’Brien contested the lead at the start of his race, but got bumped at the start of lap four and struggled to recover his position. He wound up in fifth place in a time of 1:28.853. McAnuff drew Heat 8 and was there or thereabouts until two laps to go when he got nudged as he was attempting to move into second. He finished in fourth with a time of 1:30.549.

The Wolfhounds returned later in the day for the repechage heats. McAnuff was involved in a thrilling Heat 9 maintaining contact with leaders. He managed to side step a crash on the final lap that took out a number of his competitors and crossed the line in second. His time of 1:28.076 was good enough to see him advance to the 1000 metre repechage quarterfinals two days later. Immediately after in Heat 10 O’Brien was holding his own. However, as he went into the lead with five laps to go he was bounced off course and ultimately finished third with a time of 1:32.718.

On the third day of the event the Wolfhounds were focused on the 1500 metre repechage quarterfinals. Another Heat 2 draw for O’Brien and he took the race out at a leisurely pace. He fronted the affair for a number of laps before he was passed by others in the field. He came home in a time of 2:29.692 for fifth place. McAnuff was in the thick of things throughout Heat 9. However, he did not have enough on the final lap and wound up in sixth with a time of 2:24.977.

McAnuff was the last Wolfhound standing on the fourth day of competition taking on the 1000 repechage quarterfinals in Heat 2. He wrapped up the season opener for Team Ireland with a fifth place and a time of 1:28.615.

The ISU Short Track World Tour remains in Montreal, Canada for the second leg from 16-19 October.

After six events in five different countries across three continents, this weekend the Irish Wolfhounds closed out the ISU Short Track World Tour in Milan, Italy at the Unipol Forum, the short track speed skating and figure skating venue for next year’s Winter Olympic Games.

As always. the Wolfhounds got things under way with qualification day where they raced across three distances. Liam O’Brien was first up in Heat 6 where he was deemed by the referee to have impeded another skater and received a penalty. Sean McAnuff raced immediately after in Heat 7 crossing the line in fourth place with a time of 2:26.259.

The 500m preliminaries were next. The Wolfhounds were again drawn in back to back heats with O’Brien once again the first to take to the track in Heat 8 where he came fourth in a time of 42.363. McAnuff has been on fire in the 500 this season and was looking on course to another swift result when there was contact from another skater on the final lap. He took second place with a time of 42.525 and was eventually advanced to the Heats later on in the afternoon.

Last up for the first morning session were the 1000m preliminaries. McAnuff came third in Heat 4 with a time of 1:28.004. O’Brien was having an unlucky day as he and another skater collided in Heat 9 sending him crashing into the barriers. He got back up and came home in fourth in 1:51.916.

McAnuff returned for the opening afternoon session lining up in Heat 8. It was a swift and competitive race and he had to be content with sixth, but he did improve on his time from the morning recording 42.142.

The Wolfhounds were back on the second day for the 500m repechage quarterfinals. O’Brien was in Heat 5 where he wound up finishing in fifth place in a time of 42.633. In Heat 7, McAnuff lowered his time from the previous day to 42.043, but it placed him in fourth and was not enough to advance any further. He did rank 33rd in the final World Tour standing for the distance.

The final day of competition had McAnuff representing the Wolfhounds in the 1000m repechage quarterfinals. Drawn in Heat 3, he was in contention from the start and it was just the final lap where he lost ground to his competitors finishing in fourth. Nevertheless, his time of 1:26.283 was a new personal best and it closed out the Short Track World Tour for the Wolfhounds on a high note.

“It’s been a great season with the new identity and it definitely supports a bigger fanbase,” O’Brien said. “It’s great representing Ireland as always and the Irish Wolfhounds so I really enjoyed on the World Tour.

“It’s been great here,” O’Brien said about trying out the ice for the Olympic test event. “The venue is brilliant and the volunteers have been very helpful along the whole event. Hopefully I’ll be back here in a year’s time and competing for Ireland once again.”

“It went by super quick all the way to here in Milan,” McAnuff said reflecting on the World Tour. “We started out in Montreal, Canada and it has been a whirlwind. I would say personally I am very happy with my progression over the World Tours. Also with the new team identities it’s been really exciting for friends and family to follow along and cheer on the Irish Wolfhounds specifically. Honestly, it’s been a really quick, but great season and I’m excited to finish it here in Milan on World Tour Six.

“I hope to be back here in twelve months,” McAnuff continued. “I’m going to be working really hard over this off season and I want to be back here representing the Irish Wolfhounds and representing Ireland on the Olympic stage in under twelve months now, I guess.”